It's not that much of a leap to state that this is the worst Red Wings defense in 20 years. This happened as Holland couldn't improve the team's defense. I think it's clear what needs to happen.

Don't waste another offseason!

Ya it is terrible. I swear to god if I here this summer that we didn't get d-men because the prices were too high I'm gonna lose it. I don't care if we need to overpay. Get some competent d-men! F*** this is frustrating

I want to see Monster in net against Toronto. Big, meaningful game, get in Howard's head a bit and start the backup. Send that message that faith is dwindling a bit and maybe he'll get back on his A game.

We seem to win more with Gus between the pipes, it's worth a shot at this point.

I don't think Babcock has hidden the fact that his faith in Howard is dwindling. He's been playing Gus way more than he normally plays a backup this season and he'd likely get more starts if he could stay healthy. I don't know what Howard's deal is this year, but we're not at a point where we simply need to send a message. That message has already been sent. Now is the time Howard needs to play and get ready for the playoffs if we make it. He needs to figure things out for himself at this stage in the game. He's not getting much help, to be fair, but realistically, he's capable of being better, and now he's getting paid a lot of money because of that fact, but he's not playing on that level. There's not much that need be said other than that he's got to find a way to be better, because whether he's getting much help from the defense or not, he's getting paid more than anyone on defense now too. He needs to be better.

Babs is pissed. I don't blame him. The three guys wearing A's on their jerseys were among the three worst players on the ice. I will give Kronner a pass, but unacceptable for Mule and Alfie to be invisible yet again.

Still have the Bruins, Penguins and Blues on the schedule. Plus the Leafs and Lightning this weekend and Canadiens one more time. There's no margin for error anymore.

He caught himself before he said it too. You could tell he really wanted to say it in a more brutal truthful way

What did babs say exactly??

Babs is pissed. I don't blame him. The three guys wearing A's on their jerseys were among the three worst players on the ice. I will give Kronner a pass, but unacceptable for Mule and Alfie to be invisible yet again.

Still have the Bruins, Penguins and Blues on the schedule. Plus the Leafs and Lightning this weekend and Canadiens one more time. There's no margin for error anymore.

Well that pretty much broke my confidence in them making the playoffs. No way they beat Boston or the Blues, so that's two losses. Please prove me wrong. Glad Legwand showed up for this game, great acquisition.

Actually Boston, Tampa, and the blues are all games they might actually win. For some reason they can't beat the bad teams and have trouble with bubble teams, but they can beat good teams...

Are you telling me Holland makes terrible acquisitions and Babcock does nothing about it? Is he telling Kenny to do one thing and the exact opposite happens? I have a hard time seeing that going on. I think it's a mutual decision making process. Babcock is not a blameless party here when it comes to personnel decisions.

Did Babcock have nothing to do with the Quincey trade? Or Cleary starting over Nyquist when the year began?

Where did I say anything about Cleary over Nyquist? And where is your proof that Babcock had anything to do with the Quincey trade?

I'm sure as the head coach he is at least partly involved in all roster discussions, but it's also been established that Babcock doesn't always agree with Holland and doesn't hesitate to let him know.

Mike Babcock: Oh, for sure, you know, I was laughing the other day, I hadn't looked at a Hockey News in forever, and I was at my dad's place in Saskatoon, and I flip it open, and it goes to the Red Wings, and it says, "Lots of disagreement over players last year between Ken Holland and Mike Babcock," and my dad looks at me, "Isn't that every year?" and I said, "Every year, every day."

That's the process. Everybody's got your own opinion. And that's what makes you better; if you're the same, why would you hire someone the same as you?

The other thing about it is...Uncomfortable meetings, when you go to a meeting--and this is in any business--and nobody really tells anybody anything, nobody steps on anybody's toes...You leave the meeting, and everyone talks behind somebody's back.

When you go to a meeting, and you deal with the facts, in an uncomfortable situation, when you leave, everything's looked after.

I'd much rather it be that way. Ken and I have a great relationship. If we pretend for one second that we agree all the time, that's just not the case, but I can tell you this: we make each other a lot better.

<snip>

Confident people have opinions, and they're willing to share them.

That doesn't mean when Kenny Holland has a better idea than I do...

We go with Kenny Holland, it makes no difference. And that could be travel, scheduling, on players, and lots of times he's got thoughts on players I never thought of, and vice versa.

I never said Babcock was blameless, but you were just blaming Babcock for bringing in Samuelsson. There's a huge gap between blameless and saying he wanted Sammy on the team. I've never read or heard anything to even remotely insinuate that Babcock was pushing for Sammy.

People can talk about firing Babcock but but he'd have job offers from other NHL teams before he even made it out of Joe Louis.

This is a team with a ton of injuries, a lot of inexperienced players, and a lot of dead weight on their roster. The problem is not Babcock.

I never said Babcock was blameless, but you were just blaming Babcock for bringing in Samuelsson. There's a huge gap between blameless and saying he wanted Sammy on the team. I've never read or heard anything to even remotely insinuate that Babcock was pushing for Sammy.

People can talk about firing Babcock but but he'd have job offers from other NHL teams before he even made it out of Joe Louis.

This is a team with a ton of injuries and a lot of dead weight on their roster. The problem is not Babcock.

He's a good coach, but he needs a change of scenery. Every coach eventually needs a change of scenery when he's hit a wall with a team.

The habs aren't a bad team by any means. So that statement made no sense. We still have a game in hand against the leafs so let's just beat them Saturday I have a good feeling babs will have them ready. Even better if Toronto loses tomorrow because of they lose tomorrow and the wings best them sat nite, that would only give the leafs 5 games.

I think Babs is a great coach honestly. He even said himself the vets let the team down. You can tell by how much he played the kids. Mule noticed, got pissed, went out and scored. Its not Babs fault our D is s*** and our goalie isnt elite.